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Business News Digital Labels & Publishers Top Stories
Double digit growth in US thanks to all those streams
By Chris Cooke | Published on Friday 31 March 2017
Another page for your burgeoning ‘Subscription Streaming Is Booming And Taking The Recorded Music Market Back Into Growth’ file now. You all have that file, right? Mine is so burgeoning I’m thinking about investing in a lever-arch. You young people out there probably don’t know what a lever-arch is, having never had to deal with paper. It’s like when you upgrade your Dropbox account to get extra space, only 43 times better.
Anyway, the largest recorded music market – that being the USA of course – saw double digit revenue growth in 2016 according to the latest stats pack from the record industry there. Double digit growth! Yes, no longer does the record industry need to get all excited about fraction-of-a-per-cent growth, we’re talking full on double digits. The US record industry’s not seen double digit growth since the very peak of the CD mountain in 1998.
To be more precise, US recorded music sales last year were up 11.4% to $7.7 billion, still a long way off what the record industry generated back in the glory days of 1998/9, but impressive growth all the same. That growth was, of course, fuelled by the streaming boom. The American streaming market grew 68% last year, and streaming services brought in more cash than downloads, CDs and vinyl combined in the US in 2016 (just). Yes, that’s right, even when you throw in that mighty vinyl revival, streams beat discs and downloads (just).
Of course, it’s really paid-for subscription streaming that is driving all the growth, with revenues from that domain more than doubling year-on-year in 2016, while income from the ad-funded on-demand platforms like YouTube and Spotify Free were up a somewhat more modest 26%.
“Our story is one of innovation, investment in great artists, hard work, and a relentless commitment to music”, said Cary Sherman, boss of the Recording Industry Association Of America while blogging and bragging about the 2016 figures yesterday. “Look (and listen) around you – like never before, music surrounds us, it uplifts us, it narrates our big games and life’s major moments, it is who we follow on leading social media platforms”.
“That does not happen by accident”, he continued. “It is partly the result of a tireless community of label entrepreneurs who approach each and every day with passion and conviction, both about music’s importance and the great artists who bring it to life. The music business, more than any other creative industry, is leading the digital transition”.
“A year of growth in the US music business is welcome news”, the RIAA chief continued, “It suggests that years of patiently nurturing a nascent streaming marketplace has begun to pay off”. But, he noted, there is still some way to go if the US record industry is to ever return to its 1990s peak. Which means, while things may be going well, they could always be going weller. Ain’t that the truth?
And, of course, you know why things aren’t going weller, don’t you? Cary knows. Come on, you know too. Safe harbours! Value gap! YouTube! Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Check the RIAA’s stats here and Sherman’s blog post here. He wrote it on Medium. How modern.
